MC

Monday, May 31, 2010

Okay, so I am not smart. After going to the public library to get on here and post about my sister's internet not working, I totally spaced getting my post ready for today! I didn't have the linky list set up yet, and I hadn't been able to upload any pictures of my latest project to share. I remembered all of this at about 10:00 Saturday nite, but there was not much I could do at that point! We've been traveling all day today, so I am just now getting home and able to hop on here!

So, I will not be sharing my project with you today, but I will put the linky list up now so please come and link up!

Also, I know I said I'd announce the winner of the J-Jewels Designs giveaway today. If I have time tonite, I will do so, but if not, it will be announced tomorrow!

Thanks for being patient with me! Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

If you want to try for the J-Jewels giveaway, you can enter by going here or here.

I'm sorry for not having Saturday Showcase today! I am in Boise at my sister's for the weekend, and their internet is down (I'm at the public library because I had to email some church related stuff before tomorrow!) So I'm sorry for not being able to do that, and hope that everyone will join us again on Monday for another Market Yourself Monday. We are growing, and I'm so excited about it!

I posted this earlier in the week, but I want to re-post it. This is a fabulous opportunity to give of ourselves and our time to those who could really use and appreciate it.

I've been reading Chronicles of a Babywise Mom ever since Reece was a little baby. Valerie has an amazing blog full of tips, book reviews, and her experiences as a mom. She recently posted on her blog about a project that her church (which is also my church!) is doing: collecting pillowcase dresses for little girls in Africa! Valerie is offering two ways for all you crafty ladies to donate - even if you can't sew!

1. Through Her: Valerie's church group is gathering dresses until July 1, then we will be sending them off. If you would like to make a dress, you can make it and send it to her. If you can't make one but want to help, you can send supplies for the dress. Depending on how many supplies she gets, she will either make them or gather up a bunch of ladies to help make them. You can also send money if you want and she will buy supplies to make a bunch of dresses. You can email her at valplowman@gmail.com.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Go here to see how you can make a difference, and to enter the J-Jewels Designs giveaway!

I've posted these before, but they are definitely worth sharing again! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup white granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup shortening

¼ cup butter or margarine softened

¼ cup white chocolate chips melted

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups white chocolate chips

8 oz package cream cheese softened

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tbsp milk

1 can cherry pie filling (I used raspberry because I'm not a fan of cherry pie filling)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine sugars, shortening, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until it is blended well.Melt 1/4 cup white chocolate chips in the microwave.Add to the bowl and beat until creamy.Add flour, soda, and salt. Beat until a soft dough forms.Hand stir in 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips.In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy.Stir in milk until it is absorbed.Drop spoonfuls of dough on to cookie sheet.Make an indention with the tip of your finger or a spoon.Drop a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into each indention.Bake for 10-12 minutes. (Mine were more on the 12 side).Let the cookies cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

This past Saturday was my one year blogiversary! I can't believe it's been over a year since I started this little blog. So to celebrate, I'll be giving you the chance to do some giving away of your own, as well as having a fantastic giveaway for you all!

Let's start with the giving.

I've been reading Chronicles of a Babywise Mom ever since Reece was a little baby. Valerie has an amazing blog full of tips, book reviews, and her experiences as a mom. She recently posted on her blog about a project that her church (which is also my church!) is doing: collecting pillowcase dresses for little girls in Africa! Valerie is offering two ways for all you crafty ladies to donate - even if you can't sew!

1. Through Her: Valerie's church group is gathering dresses until July 1, then we will be sending them off. If you would like to make a dress, you can make it and send it to her. If you can't make one but want to help, you can send supplies for the dress. Depending on how many supplies she gets, she will either make them or gather up a bunch of ladies to help make them. You can also send money if you want and she will buy supplies to make a bunch of dresses. You can email her at valplowman@gmail.com.

I measured the section in the middle to see how big I needed to cut my fabric. I did half an inch extra on both measurements to allow for seams. I think mine were about 5x16 or so.

Cut your fabric. I was doing two of each kind of fabric, so I used my fold to cut, and then cut again at the fold.

Next iron down your seams and then pin the fabric to the burp cloth.

Sew around the edges.

Done!

You can really get creative with these. I got some that had just two pieces of ribbon sewn down, which was really cute. I had originally planned to do the ric rac by itself, but I think it looks pretty cute with the fabric.

Monday, May 24, 2010

My friend had a baby shower this past Saturday, and I decided to make her some burp cloths. I received some like this after I had Remi, and they have quickly turned into some of my favorites to use because of their size and absorbency. They look simple to make, so I knew I could figure it out! I'll put up the tutorial tomorrow!

Friday, May 21, 2010

But I just wanted to let everyone know who has emailed me expressing interest that I am getting your emails, and I promise to get back to all of you SOON! I'm planning on sending out a mass email with available dates, and then it will be a first come, first serve basis to get the date you want!

I am so excited about how many people have contacted me so far! I can't wait to share all of you with the blogging world!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Okay, I have been seriously slacking. So many of you wonderful ladies have given me awards over the past couple of months. Between the new baby and figuring out life with two kids, I haven't had time to properly thank everyone for them!

Now, don't hate me ladies. I've obviously slacked at even accepting these awards, so did you think I'd be much good at passing them along?? I'm truly honored, and I just could pass them on to soooo many blogs (seriously, there are A LOT in my reader!) But I will just share a few things about myself, and graciously pass these along to any of my amazing readers!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

** The pattern for this dress with sizes from 0-3 months up to 7 is available in my etsy shop here. **

So you all saw the t-shirt dresses I posted yesterday. My friend had made one for her little girl, and I begged her to show me! So, this past Friday nite, her husband was at work and mine was out of town, so we put the kids to bed and had a sewing party! We had both of our sewing machines out on her table, and 'stations' for cutting, ironing, and gluing. Combine that with Diet Coke, licorice, peanut M&M's, and good company - could life get much better? I submit that it could not.

So here's what you need:

- t-shirt (mine was a $3.50 tank from Wal-Mart)

- fabric

- iron

- sewing machine/accessories

- buttons (optional)

You'll want to start off by using a dress your little girl already has for some measurements. For the body of the dress, you'll want to measure across the width, and then cut your width of fabric to be one and a half times that. As for the length, you'll just want to figure how long you want the dress to be, subtract how much shirt you are leaving, and there's your measurement for the length. If you are smart, use the fold of the fabric to cut this piece out. That saves you sewing a side. You can see that I was not smart.

For the ruffles, you'll want to make them as long as two times your width since you will be gathering them to make them ruffle. For the length, it just depends on how long your dress is going to be and how many different fabrics you are using. I needed five ruffles that would be about three and a half inches long, so I cut them at four inches to account for seams. Again, use your fold! I got smart this time!

You'll want to pin the two right sides of your fabric for the body of the dress together and sew the seams. I used a 1/4" allowance.

Next I ironed a 1/4" on the bottom of the body and sewed it.

At the top of your body, do a gathering stitch by setting your stitch length to the longest length. Don't backstitch here! You'll need your thread ends nice and long so that you can pull.

After I did the body, I closed up one of the ruffles, ironed and hemmed it, and did the gathering stitch at the top. This was the ruffle I wanted to go first.

Next you are going to pin your ruffle, body, and half shirt together and sew a quarter inch seam.

Turn it right side out and top stitch.

Doesn't this look like a little 80's dress??

Then you're going to want to hem and gather all of your other ruffles. Here's a little pile of ruffles!

Then, measure the distance that you want between ruffles. Okay, I was living on the edge and just eyeballed it! Pin your ruffle down and sew it all the way around.

Then top stitch all the way around. Do this for all of your ruffles.

Looking good so far!

Then I decided that I wanted to put something on the sleeves of the tank. I traced a circle and cut it in half.

Search

Loading...

Sumo

Hi, I'm Sumo! I'm a stay at home mommy to three little ladies. When I'm not painting, or hunched over my sewing machine, you can usually find me with a can of Diet Coke in one hand, and a good book in the other. I hope you'll stay awhile!